


Let Me Help

by Freedoms_Champion



Series: Gajeel's Girls [2]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hair Washing, it's mild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:49:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26760127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freedoms_Champion/pseuds/Freedoms_Champion
Summary: After a job gone wrong, Levy is aching too much to wash her hair. She's about to make up her mind to do it later when her new boyfriend walks in and offers to help.
Relationships: Levy McGarden/Gajeel Redfox
Series: Gajeel's Girls [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1942081
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45





	Let Me Help

Curls of steam wafted up from the hot water, easing the numerous aches in Levy’s bones. The latest job she’d been on had taken an unexpected turn and she’d had to fight against a panther construct. Droy had been knocked out, leaving her and Jet to finish the job. It hadn’t broken skin or bones, but she had an impressive collection of bruises and pain all over her body.

A hot bath was just the thing.

Bubbles tickled her skin, adding a lovely scent to the air. Levy wanted to relax, but she also wanted to wash her hair and her shoulder hurt too much to raise her arm above her head. She shifted her legs to ease a strained muscle and sighed.

Maybe it could wait. Her hair wasn’t much of a mess. She could rinse out the dust and sweat and wash it when she was feeling better.

“Oh. Welcome back,” Gajeel said, making her jump in surprise. A strangled whimper escaped her as the abrupt motion sent spikes of pain arcing through her body.  
“Hi, Gajeel. I just got back,” she managed to say and leaned back in the tub, unable to meet his eyes. They had only been together for a handful of months and she hadn’t developed the confidence to sit in the bathtub and ignore him.

“You’re a mess. Need any help?” he asked. Levy managed a shy glance at him and saw that he was rubbing the back of his neck, eyes flitting around without settling on anything.

“Um, maybe. It’s not really important,” Levy said. To her further embarrassment, the words fell out in a rush. “I want to wash my hair, but I can’t raise my arm over my head. But, it’s fine! I can do it in a few days when I feel better.”

“It’s not a big deal. Just give me a second.” Unable to look up, Levy heard him leave the room. She pressed both hands to her face, hoping a bit of water would cool the burning in her cheeks. It hadn’t succeeded by the time Gajeel came back. He sat cross-legged by the tub; hands bare of his usual gauntlets.

Levy focused on his hands rather than anything else, surprised by how much smaller they looked now. Of course, no one would ever say Gajeel had small hands, but the change made his fingers look longer and showed the bones in his wrists.

“So, what kind of soap do you use?” he asked, reaching past Levy to poke at the collection of soap, shampoo, and conditioner on the shelf. The confusion in his voice made her giggle.

“Here, these ones,” she said, handing him the right bottles.

Quiet fell between them, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable now. Levy leaned back and let hot water pour over her head, then Gajeel’s hands slipped into her hair. She thought she knew his touch by now, but he was more gentle than usual. It made her smile, since he normally touched her like she was made of glass. The callouses on his fingertips from hours of guitar practice scraped on the sensitive skin of her neck.

More than the hot water Gajeel’s touch eased the pain and made her forget the echoes of panic that had chased her all the way home. Levy wondered how she had gone from terrified of this man to comforted by his presence.

Falling in love with Gajeel hadn’t been easy. Now she could see that his sarcastic, aloof behavior was fueled by awkward shyness, but it had scared her when he first joined Fairy Tail. Ordinary people towered over her, and Gajeel was hardly ordinary. Then fight after fight, she watched him throw himself in front of anything that might have hurt her. The bitter, vicious loner who had attacked her was gone, replaced by a man who didn’t always know what he was doing, but tried his best to do the right thing anyway.

It hadn’t been easy, but now loving him was simple. She turned to smile at him when he finished with her hair.

“Thanks, Gajeel!”

He blushed and grinned back. “Don’t mention it, bookworm. I know you’d do the same thing.”

“Make sure to let me know when it comes up, okay? I owe you one.” No longer shy, she leaned over far enough to kiss him. Gajeel gently framed her face with his hands and stared at her when they broke apart.

Levy might have looked away from the intensity of it, but she felt the same overwhelming desire to stare back at him. The sharp slant of his eyes had softened, the habitual scowl that lowered the studded lines of his eyebrows vanished from his face. This was a face Levy knew he wouldn’t show to just anyone and she treasured moments when he shared it with her.

“You’re the boss,” he finally said. It took Levy a moment to remember what she had said, but it made her smile. Gajeel hardly ever accepted help when he was hurt, which happened a lot more often than she liked.

“I’m going to go and work on a song.” He kissed her again and headed out. Levy stayed in the water for a while, basking in a happy glow.

Maybe unexpected jobs could have happy endings after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> For whatever reason, I'm writing massive amounts of fluffy softness right now. Maybe the plots have abandoned me. Oh well, this is more fun!
> 
> Have a fantastic day!


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